Triboot System

OK..I know all Linux people are going to say Linux only...but I want a Win98/WinXP Home/SuSE 9.1 Pro "test box"...which I have discussed at length with Dapper Dan (thank you enormously).

My question is I want to use System Commander 9 from VCOM. What is my order of installation? I will have to install Win98 on a second partition since I only have a WinXP Home Upgrade disc. Knowing that, do I install Win98 first, System Commander Second, Win98 again (on second partition), upgrade that to WinXP, then finally install SuSE 9.1? I have a 250GB Hard drive so space is not an issue...

Also, where do I need to look to see if I even have a chance of using my Linux with my HP All in One printer/scanner/fax/copier? I really only want print and scan capability but all would be great.

There are a few ways to do this. What you have to consider, is that each install of Windows, whether it be 98 or 98 to XP, will want to overwrite your MBR. But, it can be done on one physical drive, but would be better on two. You don't really need System Commander to do this.

I saw that there is a System Commander 8, but did not see a version 9. Is this a new release? Also, there is a great how-to on the VCOM web site about installing, located here. The main install quides are here

Good questions. Are any of the drives sata drives? this will make a difference. Suse 9.1 Pro refused to install on my sata drive. I ended up placing it on my ide drive.

So, if Suse is one of the main distros that you will be using, then XP and Suse on the master.

Generally you want the faster (usually the larger, but not always) as the master drive. Never did this configuration, but I would assume that Win 98 and XP will want to be the first install, so probably one on the master and one (?Win 98) on the slave (assuming no sata drives). I'll look around for some how-to's on the subject.

I have never had a problem with installing windows XP on sata drives but have never tried Win98...

The Raptor is blazing fast (10000rpm and 4.9ms access time) so I think maybe Linux in 64-bit mode on this one? And Win98/WinXP on the other...(if I can get SATA to work with Win98)? I will be the sole user so user partitions would probably only need to be one or maybe two...

As far as the HP it is a PSC 2710 (ethernet and wireless networking built in) and currently is connected on the wireless network...it has its own IP address

According the installation of W98/XP and Linux I'd like to throw in my 2c ...

As far as I can see the Windows 98-install is the crux of the whole thing. The first thing to check is if there's a way to install that OS on a SATA drive at all. I haven't installed W98 in years now, but from what I can remember I think it must be at least w98SE to even recognize SATA drives.

The first step therefore would be to check if you can install W98(se) at all. For this I'd recommend to place it on the slower drive (Caviar/250GB) which should be partitioned somewhat like that ...

As you can see this is a lot of partitioning and any decent Linux installation CD should provide the necessary partitioning tool.

Installation sequenceAfter partitioning the drives, start out with the Windows98 installation ("windows"-dir goes to 1st part. on Caviar).

If you can get W98 running on the SATA drives, just start the installation of XP from within W98. Install XP to the 1st part. on the Raptor. The installer should recognize the W98-installation this way, and automatically configure a "dual-Windows"-boot setup managed by the XP boot-manager still.

As the last OS, install Linux. Linux normally sees a Windows-install and provide a triple-boot setup in the end. If all goes well, you should start with LILO/Grub-screen, followed by the XP-boot-menu ("Windows XP" and "Windows 98"), meaning that you have actually 2 daisy-chained boot-managers. Any boot-code, of course, goes into the MBR of the Raptor-drive.

That's how the procedure at least here works with multiple W2k- and Linux-installs. I can only hope XP acts likewise.

From what I have been reading it's a catch 22 with Win 98. I believe drivers are needed for sata, or possibly the capability of the bios. Windows 98 has a 137 gb limit on reading hard drives, so, I don't know how this will affect the installation on a 250 gig drive. If you are lucky, by keeping the fat32 partition smaller than this? Might be a sector reading issue though.

LinuxPrinting.org does not mention your printer at all. I suspect that you may get the printer to work and maybe the scanner. Big question on the onboard nic capability, especially wireless.

Now to add another twist. I can actually use three drives with this system, the Raptor, a 120Gb WD Caviar and the 250Gb WD Caviar. I think the best thing in this case would be to install Linux on the Raptor, Win98 on the 120GB and WinXP on the 250GB. Does that seem right?

Also, should I install the 64-bit SuSE since I have an Athlon64 processor?

As far as Win98 on SATA, I spoke with some guys around here and they say since I have Second Edition it should work fine...but if not that will certainly be the OS that goes....maybe I will triboot with XP, SuSE and Mandrake.......

Oh don't worry...I will document every sordid detail of the install....

Was trying to remove a Danger Den water cooling cooler from the northbridge of my motherboard yesterday and slipped...violently removing a few resistors and capacitors..not the normal sized ones but the ones measured in millimeters....needless to say (though I will) quite a few cuss words erupted....

If I install SuSE 9.1, how do I upgrade to 9.2? Does it work like Windows Update or will I have to get the actual 9.2 software? I went to newegg.com and ordered the most recent they had (9.1) only to look at pricegrabber today and see that 9.2 was there (for less than I paid at newegg)...what are the (major)differences between the two?

Also if I were to go with a quadboot system and install Mandrake 10.1 as well, being a newbie should I just go the low cost way and get 10.1 Discovery or should I get PowerPack? Also would PowerPack+ be too much for me?

I would download the latest release of Mandrake 10.1, of course, if you have access to a cd burner and high speed internet. Then you can try out the distro before plunking down cash for the commercial version. I applaud your support by buying the full packages, but if you decide to test out other distros, you may elect to do test run before buying the full commercial product. Your call.

I would try Suse first. You may decide to stick with it all the way and go no futher.

I say the newest versions, as the support for your hardware (sata, printer and video card) are more likely. Support for ATI video cards is limited in general, unfortunately. Sata support seems more solid in the latest versions. It only stands to reason. Sata is relatively new hardware for Linux and much better supported in the new releases.

Thanks. Yeah Mandrake would certainly be an add-on after I got comfortable with SuSE...

But what do I do about making sure I get the best possible support? Do I need to pay for 9.2 or is that covered under my "warranty" period, and basically an update after 9.1 is installed? I just want to make sure I get the best compatability that I can, regardless of how good or bad it may be (ATI and SATA).

And in the future if I refer to "Dan" it covers both Dapper and danleff....

Actually I've been looking into upgrading from SuSE 9.1 Pro to 9.2 Pro myself. There may be a way to do it via FTP, but it may just be easier to buy the box. If I find out how to do it I'll let you know. SuSE 9.1 is really solid though, so don't feel like you're too out of date.